I’m really quite the fan of feeding people for cheap. I try to make dinners that I can either eat for lunch the next day, or repurpose for dinner the next day. Tonight’s dinner is cheap to make if you buy everything for sale.

I’ll always buy pasta and diced, canned tomatoes when they are on sale. These things are staples in my house and I always have a few packages around. I try not to buy meat at over $2/lb, as well, and when I find it, I’ll stock up and fill the freezer (yes, I need a bigger freezer). I can generally make this dinner (lasts the two of us for about 3 meals) for under $10. Tonight it cost $6, so that breaks down to $2 per meal for us.

• $1.50 for 1 lb of italian sausage
• $1.50 for 1 lb of spaghetti noodles
• $1.00 for two cans of diced tomatoes
• $2.00 for the heavy cream

Ingredients:

• 1 lb spaghetti noodles, cooked
• 1 lb italian sausage
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Salt & Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Oregano
• 1/2 tsp Basil
• 1/4 tsp Thyme
• pinch of fennel seeds
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Method:

Cook spaghetti noodles to package directions, drain, put back in a large pot. Brown the italian sausage, add it to the large pot. Combine the rest of the ingredients with the noodles and sausage, cook on medium until heated through. Adjust spices to your own liking. Serve!

You can omit the sausage for a vegetarian meal. This is a nice change from spaghetti with marinara, and its easy on the budget.

This is a story of a girl who grew a basil plant, not knowing what she was getting into. The plant grew large and had many leaves, and graced her kitchen with a lovely sweet scent.

One day, she looked at the plant and realized she may have gotten into more basil than she bargained for. So what’s a girl to do with all of that basil? Well, pesto, of course!

Garlic and basil getting ready to get together.

Luckily, the girl was an avid cook and had most of the ingredients on hand, and could substitute the others. Also luckily – the minuscule food processor she had “borrowed” from her mom’s kitchen was just big enough to process the pesto. (Note to anyone reading this: I need a food processor like  my car needs gas. The one I have holds a whole, singular cup.)

The girl made up her pesto, and said “This is just right! I shall serve it for dinner, tonight!” She cooked up some noodles (penne and whole wheat fusilli, for it was what she had on hand), strained the water from them, and placed them in a bowl with a lid (tupperware works great, too, but I have these awesome metal bowls with lids that I try to use at every occasion). She scooped some of her lovely green sauce in with the noodles, and gave it a good shake.

Now properly coated in delicious green gold, the noodles were served with rave reviews.

Pesto, aka "Green Gold"

This was a great way to use up some of my crazy basil plant and not spend money on making dinner. I generally have most of the ingredients on hand, and pasta is always a cheap way to go for supper. Sometimes, you just have to be cheap, but cheap never has to be sub-par. I actually find it an interesting challenge to try and feed the two of us with as little money spent as possible.

So, do you want to make some of your own green gold?

Ingredients

• 2 cups basil leaves
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil (I could have used some more, but I used up what I had left. I’m thinking 1/3 to 1/2 cup would be better)
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup pine nuts (I used walnuts instead, tasted great still)
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Uh, wash basil. Throw everything into your food processor. Process into a paste. Serve. Serving options include: with pasta and Parmesan cheese, on toast/baguette, over baked potatoes, or whatever else you can come up with!

Be frugal with how much you put on your pasta, this is an aggressive little green sauce. If you have any left over, pack it into an ice cube tray and freeze it. Sometimes a little bit of water will help it solidify. Remove it from the tray and put in a plastic baggie. It will keep for a few months.

I’m a sucker for a good deal. So, when our local grocery store had pork spare ribs on sale for 99 cents/pound, I bought two racks and stuck them in the freezer. I pulled out one rack to entertain with today.

This recipe is so good, and SO EASY! Just set it and leave it alone for as long as you can. They come out perfectly tender and delicious (I may have had a few stray bones…so I went fishing for the meat!). Serve with whatever you like, such as mashed potatoes and a side salad, like I did. These would be great with a side of corn bread or green beans, too.

Ingredients (feeds 8):

• 4-5 pounds spare ribs (mine was 4.76)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp molasses (or, use 2 Tbsp of brown sugar instead of sugar + molasses)
• 4 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cans condensed tomato soup
• 3 Tbsp ketsup

Method:

Thaw ribs. Cut them apart into single ribs, stick them in your crockpot. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Pour over the ribs. Cook on low for 6-10 hours. Serve and enjoy!

I like to indulge when I have a craving. My latest craving involved ball park food. Rockie’s Stadium sells these amazing pretzels with parmesean cheese. Since I didn’t have a ticket, or the extra cash to go, I made some myself.

These are hard to resist fresh out of the oven!

Ingredients (makes 16):

• 4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 5 cups all-purpose unbleached white flour (sub whole wheat for a healthier treat)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt

For water on stove:

• 4 cups water
• 1/4 cups baking soda

Method:

Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar and yeast in warm water. You’ll know its ready when the yeast is bubbly. Add sugar, vegetable oil, salt, and one cup flour. Keep adding flour slowly until the dough pulls away from the sides of the mixer bowl. Knead for 5 minutes, then put it in a greased bowl in a warm spot to double in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down and turn out onto a floured surface. Divide the dough into 16 parts. Take each piece and roll it into a 20 inch long rope. Twist into a pretzel shape and boil for 2 minutes in water/baking soda mixture. Pull out and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F. Remove and enjoy!

To season your pretzel: Melt 1 tablespoon butter. Brush on the pretzel, and salt lightly.

I quite enjoy these plain or lightly salted, but I was feeling extra indulgent, so this is what I did:

Instead of just using plain butter, I melted it and added in some sliced garlic until it was soft. Brushed that on my pretzel, added a little bit of salt, and some freshly grated parmesean cheese. Amazing. I had about 3 this way before I was stuffed!

How do you like your pretzels? Just salted? Garlic and parmesean, like me? Cinnamon and sugar? Something else?